


Ten Times Paxton H-Y Saw Devi Vishwakumar

by luminouspancake



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: F/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luminouspancake/pseuds/luminouspancake
Summary: Deconstructing the dazzling, carefully curated, and only occasionally oblivious facade of transpacific Tumblr icon Paxton H-Y...AKA Paxton character study & POV from various Daxton highlights."He never knew what she was going to say, do, or collide with next..."
Relationships: Paxton Hall-Yoshida & Devi Vishwakumar, Paxton Hall-Yoshida/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 11
Kudos: 44





	1. Junior Year, First Swim Practice

1.

The first time Paxton Hall-Yoshida saw Devi Vishwakumar — as in, finally became aware of her existence — was just after the first swim practice of his junior year.

Being that he was *the* Paxton H-Y of transpacific Tumblr fame, a lot of girls approached him out of the blue. So that was nothing new. 

But this girl had sought him out at night, apparently knew his entire school schedule (she could name every class he’d been in for the last two years?), and looked like she’d just run several miles in sweats that were a little too pajama-like to be exercise gear. So, that was different.

He couldn’t quite place her, even after she introduced herself. But then again, Paxton Hall-Yoshida meets a lot of girls.

“I was also paralyzed last year?” she’d offered anxiously, after it became clear he remained completely clueless as to who she was.

Ah. The girl in the wheelchair. His memory finally connected.

Swimming always left him in a blended state of fatigue and Zen, with most of the past and emotions fading evenly into the background. So it’s not like he was a TOTAL douche for not feeling a damn thing for this weird girl crushing on him so hard she stumbled over her words.

“I wonder if you’d ever consider…”

He waited, not entirely bored, as she visibly worked up all of her courage to ask him out.

“….having sex with me?”

Well. Now that was definitely different. 

As she cringed and turned to walk away, freaking out over her own shamelessness, he finally bothered concluding that she wasn’t NOT cute.

“Yeah. Okay,” he found himself saying.

She stopped and spun. “What?”

“Just sex, right?” She was right when she said he’d never be her boyfriend.

“Just sex,” she quickly nodded.

“I’m down. But I, can’t tonight.” He really was tired.

Her face - no, her entire being - seemed to light up. Even her voice sounded different, though he only half-listened to her afterwards. He’d grown largely indifferent to the nervous chatter of underclassmen, even since he’d been in 8th grade.

They parted ways in the dark. 

Well, more like he’d left her standing there still beaming. 

As he walked to his car, his mind idly flicked through past propositions, half-consciously searching for one that came close to being as bold.

Impressive, even he had to admit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My very first AO3 fic. Cheers for reading!


	2. Hot Pocket and Trophy Box

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we delve into the first dead giveaway that Paxton's impenetrably cool, absentminded persona is entirely constructed...

2.

Lunchtime, third day of his Junior year. 

Paxton was holding court with his boys in the “Hot Pocket,” _THE_ spot to be if you truly counted among Sherman Oaks High’s male student body.

Eddie Tan had just been clowning him about all the attention — from the school’s girls _and_ guys, not to mention random passerby — he always got.

As if on cue, Devi Vishwakamur directly strode up to them, then promptly got hit in the face from Marcus and Trent’s lanyard duel. 

_Awkward_ …

“Hey Paxton, can I talk to you?”

He smirked and smacked the shoulder of the nearest bro before sauntering away with Devi.

“So, I thought I would follow up on our conversation from the other day and ask if you wanted to - hang out - later?” she blinked brightly. 

Oh, he remembered. Of COURSE he remembered. What red-blooded high school guy, _de facto_ leader of the Hot Pocket no less, could ever forget someone who offers no-strings-attached sex just the day before? And in such a bold, weird way as this girl did?

But all his boys were sitting right there. So, better play it cool.

“Oh-oh, you mean like, have sex,” he said after a beat, as if it’d totally slipped his mind. “Sure, maybe after school today at my place?” he suggested, super nonchalant.

“T-today? That’s super soon! Which is great — soon is great, it’s just - I have orchestra after school today, so I…can’t. But, maybe later this week?”

“I don’t know, maybe,” gracing her with a quick smile before turning his back on her completely and walking away.

“Okay great! We’ll compare calendars tomorrow or something - we’ll figure it out! Later skater!” she called after him.

That last bit made him turn around. “…What?”

 _Oof._ Even more awkward.

The next few hours passed in a predictable blur. Devi - walking right into a lanyard fight, then immediately propositioning him for sex (again), then on top of that shouting slang he associated with his 45-year old uncle - had been the strangest, most memorable part of his day.  
  
His body may have been in the classroom, but the rest of him wandered off somewhere less boring.

He didn’t bother checking back in to himself until school got out and he was getting ready to drive home.

Devi came dashing out to meet him at that moment.

“Paxton! I can actually come now, that scheduling conflict cleared-“

“Cool. Get in,” he nodded smoothly.

She practically leapt into his Jeep, beaming. He glanced at her quickly just to make sure she was safely inside before driving off.

Well. As it turned out, he and Devi Vishwakumar did not have sex that day. They didn't even kiss.

Instead, she dropped the beer he’d offered her in his garage. Then she bolted, nervously excusing herself — something about medicine for her mom’s polio of all things? — but not before stumbling and cutting herself on a box overflowing with his trophies.

“It’s chill! See you at school!” she reassured him as she hobbled out the door backwards, leaving him with his shirt off and his jaw dropped.

 _Damn, she was weird._ Weirder than than any other girl he’d ever hung out with, for sure. 

Lord knows, he’d already racked up a ton of basis for comparison. Girls had never been a challenge for him. 

Well, at least not since he was really young. There _had_ been some secret, awkward moments in 3rd grade, but they’d fallen away soon as he’d grown pit hair in 4th grade, then vaporized entirely when his growth spurt hit in 5th.

When his desire grew beyond kissing, he found he didn’t even have to try that hard.

He thought about texting someone to come over, but his mom really would be home soon. 

He closed his mouth, shook his head, then cleaned off the blood from the trophy. Not that he cared so much about the thing— it was an old one from middle school. The garage was stuffed with his awards from swimming, soccer, track… every sport he tried, he discovered he excelled. He’d gotten so used to winning, it almost seemed force of habit by now.

Grabbing his shirt off the floor, he headed out the garage for a cold shower. But instead of feeling disappointed over not hooking up, he found himself smiling at the incredible, unpredictable weirdness of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Because I could not buy for one second that Paxton H-Y or ANY horny high school jock could so quickly forget anyone (especially someone as cutely awkward as Devi) who just offered no-strings-attached sex. Haha come on now.
> 
> I also believe that Paxton is a lot more thoughtful than he lets on, which I'll be sure to delve into with the next chapters that I'll post every week or so.
> 
> Thanks again for reading :)


	3. On His Own Couch Inside His Own House

3.

Paxton had just come back from a light, breezy 5K jog to see Devi Vishwakamur standing in front of his house, a scooter at her feet.

“’Sup?!” He greeted her happily, high off endorphins.

“AAH!” she shouted in response.

He grinned. “I was just finishing up a run,” he told her, just in case she shouldn’t tell from the fresh sheen of sweat glistening on his famously chiseled, athletic brow.

“OK, cool. So! Do you need to like stretch or something, or are you good to just go to your garage and have sex with me?”

Caught off guard yet again, he stared at her blankly for a beat (honestly, this time). “Um… I’m good to go to the garage.”

She skipped off towards his house without another word.

He sniffed his armpit to check if he reeked… not too bad. Shrugging — she was just a nerdy Sophomore anyway, he couldn’t help thinking — before turning to follow her.

As they entered the garage, he considered offering her a drink, but thought better of it since she’d promptly dropped the last one on the floor.

She was more confident this time, taking charge of the situation and inviting him to sit down on _his own_ couch, patting the space next to her while smiling suggestively.

Did she just… waggle her eyebrows at him?

Whatever the case, it was becoming clearer this was NOT gonna go smoothly and according to plan like all his normal hookups.

Devi was anything but normal. He never knew what she was going to say, do, or collide with next. So for the first time since middle school, Paxton H-Y honestly didn’t know how to act.

Instead he just sat there, somewhat rigid, shooting her the odd questioning look.

“So, here we are, about to… _*pleasure*_ each other,” she stroked his chest with the back of her hand. “BUT-“ she booped his nose, “before I can _*rock*_ your world, I need to freshen up. Can you point me in the direction of the ladies room? I wouldn’t wanna * _pee*_ in the middle of doing it.”

“Yeah, that’d be…bad. First door on the right,” he told her stiffly.

“Thanks!” she hopped off the couch.

Time passed. He wondered what on earth was taking so long — did Devi injure herself again somehow, this time in his bathroom?

He got up to check — then heard voices coming from upstairs.

He followed them to discover Devi and his little sister Rebecca shaking hands in Rebecca’s room.

Now, this was DEFINITELY not going according to plan. He never arranged hookups at his house when Rebecca was home. Ever.

“What are you doing?” he demanded before turning to his sister. “Becca, I thought you were at work?”

“I switched with Lisa, she gets her braces off tomorrow.”

“You said you were just going to the bathroom,” he glared back at Devi. “What the _hell_.”

“Wait, are you mad at me or something?”

Biting back his words, not wanting to lose his temper in front of his baby sister, he shook his head and stormed downstairs in silence.

He waited til he and Devi stepped outside on the porch before venting some of his outrage.

“Why are you sneaking around my house and talking to my sister?”

“Was I not supposed to? I didn’t even know you had a sister!”

“OH, you think I’m hiding her now? Because I’m embarrassed of her or something?!”

“No, I didn’t say that!” she protested.

“‘K,” he seethed, finding it hard to look at her, he was so annoyed. “I don’t think this is gonna work. You should probably just go.”

Her face fell before she turned to leave, clearly dejected. He went back inside, not bothering to watch her go.

“Well, that was awkward,” Rebecca greeted him as he entered the kitchen dining area, mixing a pitcher of lemonade. Obviously she’d listened to their entire conversation, as little sisters are wont to do. “Here, cool off,” she said pointedly, holding out a fresh glass to him.

“Sorry about all that,” he said, accepting the glass gratefully.

“It’s not me you should be saying sorry to,” Rebecca countered. “Devi was really friendly and funny. There was no need to snap on her that way.”

“Well, there was no need for her to snoop around our house like that!”

“Oh come on, she wasn’t snooping,” Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I’m the one who asked her for help picking an outfit!”

Paxton blinked. He’d been so tense in the moment with anger and something that felt like - fear, maybe? — it hadn’t occurred to him to check his assumptions.

“Probably won’t talk to her again anyway,” he grumbled.

“That’s too bad, because she was definitely nicer and a lot more interesting than all the other girls you 'talk' to,” Rebecca said archly, sipping her lemonade before breezing past him.

He furrowed his famously chiseled brow. It still felt deeply annoying and wrong, having one of his shallow, random hookups cross paths with his angelic baby sister. But on the other hand, Rebecca was great at reading people. She had to be, since people had targeted her with so much bullying.

Once, when some mean kids had taken to cyber bullying Rebecca for having Down syndrome, Paxton even enlisted his Tumblr fan army (he was surprised to learn that it spanned multiple countries AND continents) to protect her.

He could feel his blood boiling again at just the thought of anyone mistreating his sister, shortcircuiting any consideration of her advice to apologize for his kneejerk reaction.

So for the second time after yet another weird encounter with Devi Vishwakumar, Paxton headed for a freezing cold shower.

The water calmed and cleared his senses. He never minded chilly temperatures as long as he was immersed — it felt like swimming first thing in the morning. Alone in the shower, he let himself relax.

It got pretty exhausting sometimes, being _the_ Paxton Hall-Yoshida of the face and bod that launched a thousand Tumblr posts.

He always had to check himself against anything uncool, picking up on invisible signals and hard, unspoken social protocols at a breakneck pace, all the while maintaining a perfectly chill front, as if he wasn’t even aware of the constant effort it took to be himself at all.

He washed the muscles that were the envy of so many classmates since middle school, letting his mind relax wander.

He remembered back to when he was very little, being best friends with a boy named Akio Takeda. They’d bonded over their love of swimming, skateboarding, and their shared heritage.

But unlike Paxton, both of Akio’s parents and both his grandparents were Japanese. So even though Akio was American, born and raised in Calfornia just like Paxton and they had so much in common, they were treated very differently. Akio couldn’t hide from the bullying, couldn’t pass for “American” the way Paxton could.

One day, some of the white boys from the grade above had surrounded Akio on the playground, yelling at him to _“go back where he came from_ " while pulling back their eyelids, then shoving him to the ground and kicking him.

Paxton had done nothing, remaining quiet. Akio never blamed him for this, of course, but their friendship had never been quite been the same after that.

Then Akio and his family moved away to New York. Paxton never saw or spoke to him again.

He’d walk barefoot into hell before he let his innocent little sister, who would never even hurt a fly, go through anything like that. He promised her and himself he wouldn’t stand by silent and powerless like that ever again.

The exact moment that Paxton H-Y ascended to the peak of popularity, he used all of his clout to make sure no one bullied Rebecca.

If anyone did, Paxton would levitate down from his perch on Los Angeles County’s proverbial Mount Olympus, and personally see to it that their social prospects were reduced to smithereens.

After rinsing out the shampoo (he never needed to condition his hair, it always stayed naturally soft and lustrous), Paxton turned off the water and stepped out the shower.

He definitely felt clean and refreshed. But somehow the strong, strange, feelings stubbornly lingered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout & special thanks to Candid59 for commenting such thoughtful, lovely feedback that's keeping me on schedule posting a new chapter every week (or so)!
> 
> This was a bit of a deep, dark dive into Paxton's past, but his character is so fiercely protective — to the point where I have a hard time believing such a strong personality comes from having a completely perfect, carefree life. I think there are several major clues in the show that Paxton's persona is not as mindless/effortless as many perceive it to be.
> 
> I love how this show, for all its fantastic humor and fun sunny SoCal vibes, doesn't shy away from difficult subject matter. Also I'm so grateful to its creators for portraying such beautiful, important diversity.
> 
> So stoked to explore this further! Especially when Paxton and Devi connect later on over Devi's conflicted feelings about her own identity...
> 
> As always, thanks for reading <3


	4. School vs. Home

4\. 

The day after, Devi came up to him at lunchtime again. He was holding court at the Hot Pocket as usual, surrounded by all his boys.

“Paxton, can I talk to you?”

He honestly didn’t know what to say to her.

She had crossed a line he’d worked very, very hard to maintain. Even if she had never meant to do it — and from what he’d seen of Devi, it DID make sense that she hadn’t actually planned any sneaky invasion into the boundary of his home life. 

She’d just, well, tripped over it. 

He knew now he shouldn’t have lost his temper. Even so, it took that freezing cold shower and yet another 5k jog later in the night to work his feelings back to a respectable level of chill.

“You really should explain and apologize to her,” Rebecca’s words from the other day echoed in his ears.

Paxton couldn’t stand it when his baby sister, the person he protected most in the world, got disappointed. From anyone, but especially from himself. 

But _what the hell was Devi thinking_ , approaching him all alone for all the world to see? 

The area around the Hot Pocket marked another clear boundary, at least to anyone who wasn’t totally clueless. And someone like Devi Vishwakamur belonged very much on the outside of that boundary. 

She’d come up to him just the other day — didn’t she know how embarrassing it was to approach him here two days in a row? How desperate she _looked_?

After all, Devi was a member of the UN, an apt though lowkey mean af (and therefore memorable) nickname coined by Ben Gross.

Ben Gross was the smartest Sophomore boy at Sherman Oaks High, and probably in all of LA County. Even a lofty upperclassman like Paxton H-Y was aware of this, if only because Ben Gross never, ever shut up about it.

Could it be Devi actually wanted to talk to him that much? Like, acting from pure impulse? No self-control, no front, no agenda?

The awkward, naked want it all made him turn his head away.

So he snubbed her. Right there in the social epicenter of Sherman Oaks High.

All this went down in a matter of seconds. Marcus and Eddie graciously joined him as he automatically changed the subject back to some party they'd mentioned the other day. He turned his back so he didn't have to see her walk away rejected.

Truthfully, part of him did want to talk to Devi.

But that part of him, or maybe that whole version of him, could only surface outside of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! 2nd shoutout to Candid59 — whom I really really hope creates a Paxton/Daxton fic of their own someday because their fantastically written comments are packed with so much fun and insight!
> 
> So I think it's becoming clearer that there's Paxton, then there's *the* Paxton H-Y...
> 
> I think it's funny in Paxton's (or rather, Paxton H-Y's) POV, “all the world” is limited to a group of popular kids at lunchtime. Oh, high school...
> 
> This was a really quick & short chapter, so I'll def update with the next one sooner than usual!


End file.
